The 10 Things Researchers Should Be Thankful for this Holiday

 

By Adam Rossow

When we’re drowning in data or working on the eighth version of a guide it can be hard to remember how lucky we are to be in the insights field. But now it’s that time of year – time to reflect and appreciate. As members of the research community we’re all grateful for our clients, colleagues, and the opportunities we have to make an impact. But there’s still a lot we take for granted. As a reminder of all that we have going for us, here are 10 things we as researchers should be thankful for this holiday.

1. We should be thankful that companies have yet to figure out Big Data, which means researchers can still claim to have the secret formula to make it all come together.
2. We should be thankful that selfies are now socially acceptable making respondent photo uploads all the rage.
3. We should be thankful that big brands still don’t know it all and their actions often remind everyone why a little research always helps.
4. We should be thankful that marketers are always scrambling to figure out how to engage customers on the latest “game-changing social platform”. Yes marketers, we’re happy to run a study to see what people want from brands on SnapFaceChat8.
5. We should be thankful that we’re smart enough to compete in the insights space with a Jeopardy dominating super-computer from the future.
6. We should be thankful that many brands think they need to figure out how to incorporate “On Fleek,” “DadBod,” and “Bae” into their lexicon.
7. We should be thankful that we don’t need those intimidatingly smart neuroscientists to tell us how people really feel any more. Self-reporting is back and better than ever….
8. We should be thankful that seemingly every retailer is hopping on the “lets close on Black Friday” bandwagon. One less actual shopping day, one more survey taking on shopping day.
9. We should be thankful that Gen Z is on the scene, meaning now only 75% of our work week is dedicated to understanding the mystical millennial.
10. We should be thankful that Data Science is somehow sexy and we’re all a little cooler to be even loosely associated with it.

Happy Thanksgiving from your thankful friends at iModerate.